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Manchester City have abandoned their attempts to lure Lionel Messi to the Etihad.
Instead, they are turning their attention to other transfer targets, wit Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku on their shortlist.
City were the one-time favourites to sign Messi who seemed certain to leave the Nou Camp last summer after his relationship with then club president Josep Maria Bartomeu became toxic.
However, he ahs since been succeeded by the returning Joan Laporta, who made keeping the Argentine the central plank of his election manifesto.
And now is widely expected that the 33-year old will continue his stay at the club he joined 20 years ago when his current deal ends this summer. Messi has yet again had a productive season for the Catalans and is the leading La Liga goal scorer, having found the net 23 times, as well as providing 8 assists.
City’s withdrawal from the race leaves PSG as the only viable candidate to sign Messi if he is still determined to leave Spain.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.